Digital technologies in mental health – opportunities, challenges and unexpected benefits

Digital technologies in mental health – opportunities, challenges and unexpected benefits

by | Sep 6, 2015 | Digital, mental health | 0 comments

In a few weeks time I am speaking at the 2nd Summit New Technologies and Mental Health: Future Possibilities in Barcelona. In my presentation I will share opportunities, challenges and unexpected benefits arising from the first year and a half of our mHabitat programme – supporting digital innovation in the sphere of mental health and beyond. People first – technology second The first insight I will share is a simple one – the fundamental importance of putting people first and technology second. It seems obvious that people should be at the heart of any innovation in mental health, but we have learnt that it is often missed. It is too easy for the allure of new technology to outshine more mundane but crucial considerations of understanding what people actually want and need. Why is it so important to put people first? Creating or licensing a digital technology will only add real value if we deeply understand the preferences, motivations and capabilities of the people they are intended for. Fortunately there are established methodologies, such as user centred design and service design for co-designing digital technologies that add value to a user’s journey through a service. In the health service there is the added dimension that digital technologies need to be underpinned by sound theories of behaviour change and/or clinical guidance as well as meeting regulatory requirements. Generating evidence so we know what works and what doesn’t is also an important consideration. Putting people at the centre is the first step to developing digital technologies that will really make a difference to people’s lives. Putting people first means recognising that...
People Drive Digital #PDDigital at NHS Expo 2015

People Drive Digital #PDDigital at NHS Expo 2015

by | Sep 1, 2015 | #PDDAwards15, #PdDigital15, NHS stuff | 2 comments

People driven digital emerged out of conversations towards the end of 2014 about wanting to put people firmly at the centre of digital innovation in health and care. These conversations took us to our #PDDigital event in May, followed by the publication of the People Driven Digital White Paper which we launched at King’s Fund Digital Health and Care Congress session in June, and then the inaugural People Driven Digital unAwards in July. We took a breather, did a bit of reflecting, and are now taking our learning to share with others at this year’s Health and Care Innovation Expo on 2 and 3 September 2015, where Mark Brown, Anne Cooper and myself will be running a session at the pop-up university. Our White Paper gives some clues and some challenges as to how a collaborative approach to digital innovation, as promoted in Personalised Care 2020 can be realised. We argue that the potential for people driving digital innovation from the ground up should be recognised, understood and supported at a strategic level. Health and care need to enable this to happen but it should be led by people not by institutions. We believe that it is only by people driving digital innovation that a step change can be achieved and outcomes in health and care transformed. So what next for people driving digital innovation in health and care? If you’d like to contribute to the conversation, please come along to our session, tweet using the hashtag #PDDigital or comment on this blog – the more we have people accessing and working in health and care services involved in...